Photos of The Pantheon and Il Vittoriano in Rome: Transcendental Illumination and a Show of Power

I’m nearing the end of my two-week family holiday in Italy, and have been in Abruzzo province, near the town of Sulmona, since Sunday August 19. For the first week my family and I were in Rome, and I posted my photos from the first three days of that wonderful week here, here and here.

Our time in Abruzzo has also been wonderful, in this little known area of Italy, with its mountains and lakes, its vertiginous roads, its excellent food, and its old-fashioned hospitality with a laid-back vibe. However, we have been so busy travelling around that I have been unable to find the time to post more photos of Rome — until now.

This fourth set (out of seven in total) focuses on two of the elements of Roman culture that recur from the time of Ancient Rome through to the unification of Italy and its unfortunate militarism in the first half of the 20th century, and which are also a hallmark of the Vatican’s presence as an empire-within-an-empire — namely, an obsession with raising buildings on a colossal scale, and also with demonstrations of power. In this photo set, these tendencies are demonstrated through two buildings, and with glimpses of others. The first of the two is The Pantheon, the ancient Roman temple built on the orders of the Emperor Hadrian, with its vast oculus, a round hole 8.7 metres wide at the top of its dome, which is itself the largest unsupported concrete dome in the world. Through the oculus, light shines down on those in the temple, dwarfing them, and creating the impression that they are literally in the presence of God — or the gods. The Pantheon was taken over by the Catholic Church, of course, which may have spared it from being destroyed over the centuries, but its power remains that of Ancient Rome, and it is remarkable that the oculus has not been replicated elsewhere.

If The Pantheon’s power is fundamentally subtle, humbling those who visit it through a spectacularly simple light show, ll Vittoriano — also known as the Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II (National Monument to Victor Emmanuel II) or Altare della Patria (Altar of the Fatherland) — which was designed in 1885, inaugurated in 1911 and completed in 1935, is a big show-off of a building, a giant pile of marble, dedicated to showing the ambition of Italy after its unification, and also honouring King Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of the unified country, as well as providing an eternal flame and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Forecasting fascism, it is obviously a deeply unsubtle building, aping the buildings of Ancient Rome that are its neighbours, and, in particular, the Colosseum, another blunt show of strength that also reeks of blood and brutality.

Photos of our visits to these sites will follow soon, but for now I hope you enjoy this fourth instalment of photos from Rome, as I endeavoured to capture something of the transcendent nature of The Pantheon, and, as I also took advantage of a modern addition to Il Vittoriano — a glass lift to a viewing platform on the very top of the building, 230 feet above Piazza Venezia beneath — to take photos that give ordinary people the kind of views of Rome that, given its history, would in the past have been reserved for those of power and influence.

Thanks for the supportive words, Richard and Abbe. I am delighted to be able to share the photos with you. It’s a part of my creativity that I neglected for too long – particularly after I began assiduously chronicling the US crimes at Guantanamo in 2006 – and it’s wonderful to be taking photos again. I now never leave the house without a pen, paper and my camera!

Thank you, my friends, for the supportive words. My photography is becoming more and more important to me. As I have explained before, after six years and several million words about Guantanamo, as well as illness and stress and bereavement, getting out and about with a camera – and particularly, as in my ongoing project to photograph London, getting out and about on a bike – has been very good for my health, and telling stories with pictures as well as words gives me more headspace and a different way of looking at the world, which seems pretty necessary right now!
Richard, you were absolutely right about The Pantheon. Thank you for your enthusiasm in advance of my visit.
And Patricia, don’t worry. It’ll be over soon, and I’ll be back to photographing boarded-up shops in London and building sites for new flats that no one can afford …! How I have not missed the Tories, and their demented plans to destroy my country.

Thanks, George. And amazing to think that, on every sunny day for the last 1,900 years, the oculus has been performing its magic. I’m fully aware of the power of light through glass, regularly used to great effect in cathedrals and churches, but this is so much simpler and even more effective. Truly remarkable.

Time will tell what remains our “cultures” will leave, Virginia, that’s for sure. I reckon most of our buildings are too flimsy to make the grade. I think what made the biggest impression on me was how central war is and always has been to the kind of psychopaths drawn to high office, and, at the Colosseum, how appealing to citizens’ basest impulses has also served governments well. That was the most chilling realisation of all, actually – that targeting bogeymen and scapegoats and licensing violence exert a powerful influence on far too many people: think war, the “war on terror,” the death penalty, the mass incarceration of African Americans in the US domestic prison system. Photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/andyworthington/sets/72157631262720900/

One last joke: I went to Rome to do yoga, big deal for me. But I REFUSED to go to the Vatican at all. Just too much evil .. so I never saw the Sistine Chapel even! Too full of resentment! (but yeah, I did the HORRORS tour, same as you and ate 28 gelati in three days .. LOL) I am glad you went, and I am gratified you took such fine photos. It seems your health is SO much better now and I am chuffed about THAT.

Thanks again, Virginia – and also DJ Sanchez. Good line! So I completely understand, Virginia. I felt I had to visit the Vatican – essentially because I wanted to see the current version of the blood-soaked Roman empire – but it wasn’t the easiest thing to do, because of the Catholic Church’s horrendous position on birth control, and its paedophile cover-ups. I’ll be posting photos of visits to the Vatican Museum and St. Peter’s soon, with, hopefully, some suitable acerbic commentary.
As for my health, I am indeed very well, and very happy about that! Six years of obsessively researching and writing about Guantanamo couldn’t quite finish me off!

So what’s the Pope Julius II analogy about, Virginia? I get it that he was a wily political operator and a warmonger, but he was also a patron of the arts, wasn’t he? Nowadays our warrior-leaders don’t even support the arts at all, do they?

I am referring to the level of tricky ruthlessness .. doing the art itself, the partronage, is just ANOTHER Political ploy to promote spectacle, that thing that Chris Hedges talks about. Stadiums, fusion centers/DHS/TSA offices, HUGE embassies (Iraq) … He isn’t into the same type of “rarified” art that we are. He likes ARMS stashes, fallout shelters, Guantanamo! I think Pope Julius II was one of the most despicable people ever .. hence the comparison. It’s just that the “religion” now is Profit$ entirely. Not much room left for the Old Gods .. (and saviours)

Leave a Reply

Investigative journalist, author, campaigner, commentator and public speaker. Recognized as an authority on Guantánamo and the “war on terror.” Co-founder, Close Guantánamo, co-director, We Stand With Shaker. Also, singer and songwriter (The Four Fathers) and photographer. Email Andy Worthington